Berkeley Creeks Ordinance headed for an update

Berkeley's once-innovative Creeks Ordinance is being updated.

For some time, the Sierra Club has advocated creation of an independent stakeholder group to review and revise the ordinance and the city's creek policy. In November 2004 the City Council approved a proposal, introduced by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Miriam Hawley and Linda Maio, to establish a Council-appointed Creeks Task Force.

The task force has until April 2006 to recommend revisions to the ordinance as well as other aspects of Berkeley's creeks-related policies. The task force's scope includes setback requirements, the definition of creeks, preventing storm-water pollution, possible incentives for homeowners to restore or "daylight" creeks, sections of creeks in underground culverts, protection and enhancement of natural riparian conditions and fish habitat, and long-term funding for creek restoration.

The Berkeley Creeks Ordinance, passed in 1989, was one of the first of its kind. It was designed primarily to prevent the then all-too-frequent culverting of creeks. Since then, other jurisdictions have adopted much more sophisticated ordinances and regulations that embody new scientific knowledge and engineering techniques. In addition, the focus has moved beyond mere preservation to restoration. Communities have come to recognize that restored creeks and their associated vegetation filter pollutants out of the water, carry more water than culverts, and provide habitat for fish, birds, and animals. State and federal agencies now advocate restoring natural creek conditions as one way to improve water quality and control flooding.

In Berkeley many homeowners were unaware of the complex issues surrounding creek protection and fisheries restoration, and in particular of how they might be affected by the Creeks Ordinance and by the significant changes in state water-quality regulations and enforcement in recent years.

Failing culverts have added another dimension to homeowner concerns, because of associated hazard, liability, and repair issues. Most of Berkeley's creeks were put into underground culverts more than 70 years ago, when the creeks were literally used as sewers. Culverting the creeks also allowed developers to build over them. Now, many decades later, these culverts are starting to fail, undermining homes, buildings, and roadways, and costing the city - and property owners - huge sums of money for repairs and legal battles.

A major concern for homeowners revolves around the question of who is responsible for paying for repair of culverts on private property. The City Council excluded this critical issue from the Task Force process, because the issue is currently being litigated. The Council has acted already to allay another major homeowner concern by reaffirming the right of property owners along creeks to rebuild after an earthquake or disaster - an action that was fully supported by the Sierra Club, creek advocates, and organizations such as the Urban Creeks Council.

The Creeks Task Force faces several challenges: bringing varied interests together to resolve complex issues; researching and defining the best-available science to establish the basis for new regulations; and finding the best ways to protect creeks in a dense urban environment. Nonetheless, there is great promise for this process to work towards resolving homeowners' concerns, while improving citywide creek policies. It provides an opportunity to explore incentives for property owners to restore natural conditions along creek banks - an aspect that is absent in the current ordinance. It also presents a chance to develop innovative funding strategies to help homeowners to deal with stream-bank failures, erosion, and culvert hazards, while improving natural creek conditions over the long term - a win-win for creeks and property owners alike.

The Berkeley community has a real asset in its history of citizen participation and environmental awareness, which can be turned to great advantage in this critical time for our creeks, while benefiting both current and future generations of Berkeley residents.

What You Can Do

The Sierra Club will be watching the Creeks Task Force closely, and will need your voices at hearings, and your letters throughout the next year. The Sierra Club has not yet determined the specific changes we want to see in the ordinance, but we definitely want to see aspects strengthened, and we want it to be an effective, reasonable approach that reflects current science and regulations beyond Berkeley's borders. Sierra Club leader Helen Burke has been appointed chair of the task force. Task-force meetings are open to the public. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Mon., March 21. Please come show your support for creeks. For more information about meeting schedules and topics, go to Berkeley's Creeks Task Force home page: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/creeks or contact Erin Dando at the Berkeley Planning Department, (510) 981-7429 or by

To join in the Sierra Club's advocacy on the ordinance (e.g. sending in letters, speaking at public hearings), contact Juliet Lamont by or (510) 909-5403.

Juliet Lamont